Owling About

Over the last few weeks Little Owl and I have turned our house into a nursery for seedlings. Every inch of available space within growing reach of sunlight is covered in little newspaper pots full of germinating (we hope!) seeds. Little Owl makes it her special job to go round and say ‘hello‘ to them every morning. She has been a little enthusiastic at times and crushed the pot in her attempts to be friendly. Big Dreamer gives me a wink and says, ‘if they can survive in here they’ll be fine in the garden.’ That’s not the only dismal prediction Little Owl and I have received about our green fingers. From the farm we’ve also had ‘I’d cover those spuds with straw if I were you, we get bad frosts in May round here‘ and ‘God loves a trier’. But we are determined to remain positive. The runner beans have been repaying our optimism well. It seems as though you could actually watch them grow, they come on so fast. I was amused to find we’d used a piece of a Sky television ad for one of our runner bean newspaper pots. In this new context it takes on a different meaning and seems like a good motto for our gardening hopes. Although I must confess I did say a little prayer for the potatoes after the frost warning!